Strive
by TW. LoaN
Summary: A virus has taken over the world and many have been taken from it. A young adult named Jacob must keep pushing through the outbreak and find his sister, along side his older brother and a few friends. Although it's easier said than done, Jacob finds himself in an series of mishaps.
1. The Beginning or The End

It's only been 3 months since the outbreak and there I was. Lying on top of a semi truck nearly dead with a broken leg, a scraped arm, and a Beretta with a half a magazine. _Was this it? Is this all that was left for me?_ I can hear them getting closer but I also hear birds chirping. Maybe that was a sign, but who the hell am I kidding? Everything was gone, well everything I have ever cared about was. There was only surviving the day without letting one of those _things_ get me. But then I hear it, I hear a car coming my way. _Thank god_. I force myself up, getting its attention by waving it down. It starts to slow down so I had my gun right by my side. _Well I'll be damned_ , the first thought I had before I felt everything go black...

 _One week before the outbreak_

It was a normal day for fall, light breezes but it still has that Arizona heat. I was already late for school and everything felt to be heading to a bad start. As soon as I got to school things felt the slightest bit of normal. However, as soon as I walked into my class everyone took the time out of their lives to look back at me. _Why can't anyone just keep looking forwards_. As I took my seat I immediately put my earphones in, blocking everyone's chatter. As the day went on the same topic kept circling around everyone's conversations. A virus that has been found in most of the biggest countries and people trying to contain it. _But hasn't that already been already a thing, nothing new to me._

The day was over, time to go home and scroll senselessly on Facebook _. Time to wallow in your shell of memes and food._ As the only way I can think of it. Being the youngest in my family has a toll me; shit, for anyone that's the youngest. I have barely turned 17 and I'm still considered the baby of the family. My brother, who was only a year and a half older than me, likes to be dick for no reason or at least cannot go a day without being an ass. I have an older sister but she's already moved out and started a family of her own. My brother and I took care of ourselves, basically, but still under the care of our grandpa. He was a kind enough man with money problems. _He likes to spend it more than to save it, which is a pain in all our asses_. That's it, That's how the life of my past went before the world went to complete shit.

It was the getting close to the end of the week as the talk about the virus grew more aggressive. Teachers were to give out papers of keeping yourself healthy by "washing your hands" and what not. All over the News were reports of people coming back from the dead, just like the Zika Virus. But I still paid no attention to it because that was a _whole_ world away from the shit-town I call home. Today was different though, considering it was an Early Release, I took notice of this guy as he walked out of his class. I'm pretty sure he noticed me too but I didn't say anything to him. I was sure to see him the next day and get a good chance to know him.

When I woke up the next morning, I've felt like things were going to go smoothly. _Boy was I wrong_. When my brother and I got to school we discussed about meeting in the library after school. When I walked in my classroom something told me to just take everything in. I didn't know it would be the last time I would see these people's faces or yet hearing their voices. In between classes, I continued to walk through the halls then I saw him. I didn't know his name or what his voice sounded like to say the least. He was walking through the crowded halls and I was trying my best to keep an eye on him so I could at least say Hi to him. But just like that. He was gone, disappearing into the crowd and into a classroom so I just walked to my class. I'd figured I would see him around surely enough but then the intercom blared through the halls.

The entire school was to be evacuated but I still had to find my brother in the middle of this mess. I messaged him so many times already, he started to piss me off. Soon enough I've spotted him amongst the crowd so I ran to him telling him where our bus was. The bus was nearly full when we got on and people, like always, starred. When we finally left, the city look like it was in a complete rush.

"I think I just seen someone ran a red light" that was the last thing i head before I felt something crash into the side of the bus causing it to be rolled over on it's side. When I came to there was bodies everywhere, people groaning in pain, others picking themselves up. A slight bit of panic ran through me when I seen my brother currled up on the window. I didn't know what to do except slap him to check if he was still alive. He jolted up then hit me back _. Yup, this asshole was still kicking_. He had a slight concussion from the crash, asking what had happened.

When we got out of the bus we notice that chaos was slowly unraveling through the streets. People came to our aid and for the kids that stayed by the bus. Other people running away but not knowing from what. We were only a couple blocks away from our house, which wasn't so bad. I was slowly in shock but my brother still took it pretty bad. He called my grandpa explaining the situation telling him what had happened. We made it home as fast as we could for a walking pace. Still trying to center myself from the coming close to death situation. When we got to our door step everything rushed to my head causing my to vomit off to side. Our grandpa took us in; helping my brother with the scratches on his head. I was lucky enough just to have a bruised shoulder.

It finally got closer to night fall and everyone turned the local news for help. The word _Zombie_ and _Undead_ were being tossed around and all I could think about was my sister. She lived in the bigger cities of Arizona, Mesa to be exact, which meant bigger hazards. I told her what had happened that day and what the news said. She told me she heard the same things and kept asking about my brother and I. At the end of our call I told her to keep safe and then told her husband to keep her and their daughter safe. As someone whose hobbies were playing video games and being on the internet, I've always read about these situations. The only difference was it was happening to me, _believe it or not_. So that night when I finally went to bed I felt that some things were bound to change.

The first day of the outbreak wasn't as bad like the movies made it seemed. It was the day after, where enough people have finally turned so _they_ could multiply by the hour. It was about late morning when I woke up to the sound of a crashing car in front of my house, causing me to jerk up. I ran outside, not knowing what it was like, to help them. It was a man, his wife; I presumed, and two kids most of them being hurt in the crash. I helped them out of the car; helping the man carry his kid on our shoulders. We made it in our house as my grandpa and brother walked in the kitchen.

"My name is Charles", he panted. " And this is my wife, Emily. And our two kids, Jonathan & Nate." They sat at our dinner table, shaken about what just happened.

"What happened to you guys?", my grandpa questioned.

"We got in an accident right outside. We were heading out of town but we hit one of those _things_ and we ran into a lamppost." he was still in shock, I could tell but what did he mean by _thing_. "Do you have anything to help my son?" it was his older son that was hurt. His sons looked younger than me and my brother, _Probably about 11 & 13_. I got a bag of frozen peas, the only thing we had for right now. Thankfully his leg was only bruised and a bit spranged. However, Charles and his wife had cuts on their faces and were more hurt than Jonathan. Charles had a dislocated shoulder, which he soon popped backed into place.

"Well my name is Victor and these are my grandsons.. Alex" he pointed to my brother. "And Jacob" he pointed to me. We were all kind of suspicious of each other, considering this is our first time meeting under these circumstances.

"Thank you for taking us in, its gotten to be really crazy out there.", Charles then took a deep breath. "Do you know what's going on?" he turned to my brother and than towards my grandpa. We shook our heads, then looked at each other, then back at Charles. "We i'm not sure what to call them-"

 _Zombies_ , I thought.

"but all over town people were eating other people." My body grew cold. "I've seen it." Jonathan groaned. "I think it's like this everywhere. Im not sure where to go but I'm sure as hell not staying in the town", Charles added.

Thoughts ran through my mind like a raceway. _What about my sister, my school, and other things that meant something to me_. I reached in my pocket to grab my phone but then I was cut of by Charles. "You're not gonna get a signal. I'm not sure why but all our phones have no service" he explained. Than that was it. Panic struck, the realization of the _end of the world_ hit. _Was this how my life would be like. Is this really happening to me right now._ It was my brother that pulled me out of my thoughts by calling my name. We were all in the living room, focusing on the t.v."Stay indoors" they kept saying. Images of people attacking other people, shooting those _zombies_. We all got caught off guard when Nate screamed. Little did we know it, one of them was right outside my door.

 ** _To be continued?..._**


	2. Your New Life

We stood there with a blank expression, wondering what was to come next. I finally managed to get a whisper out, "Get down. Everyone stay quiet." the _man_ outside was pale with foggy eyes. His clothes were bloody and he had scratches all over himself. There was also what looked like bite marks on his upper torso. _What happened, I kinda felt bad for "him"._ "What are we gonna do?", Jonathan whispered. His brother was scared, everyone was scared shitless. His younger brother was crying softly into his mother's shoulder, trying to keep him quiet. The _man_ was now by the window, staring inside. "He's gonna attract more if he doesn't go away. We have to do something.", Charles whispered. "Well, let's find a way to make it leave.", Alex always sounded sarcastic which was a little off putting. I hesitant for a moment. Than I spoke, "I got an idea."

Everyone looked at me like I was a teacher of some sort. "Everyone go to the backyard except you.", I glanced at my brother. They nodded their head and crouched as they left towards the back. "Okay; Rock, Paper, Scissors." _The only way we could settle something fairly._ My brothers face had confusion after the words left my mouth. "Are you fucking serious? For what?", his he exclaimed. "Just hurry and I'll explain." We played and then I came out as the loser. "Okay so here's how this is gonna go down. I'm going to let him in, assuming it's a _regular_ zombie it'll follow me to the backyard. You're gonna be right next to the backdoor entrance and swing whatever as hard as you, try to aim for its head as I pass by. Got it?" I was unsure of myself, unsure if this plan was going to work or getting killed in the process.

We were ready, everyone in their position anxious about what would happen next. I go to the front door and got the _man's_ attention. I wasn't ready to open the door, not quite yet, not till _it_ got closer. I swung the door wide enough were it could see me and our eyes met. _His eyes were white and dead._ I started walking backwards giving _it_ my full attention. We passed the living room and towards the back. He started to pick up his pace so I had too as well, nearly tripping over a chair. The door was about three feet away and then it happened. _I tripped on my fucking shoelace._ When I hit the floor I fell on my back trying to picked myself up immediately. He was in reaching distance of so I pushed him back with my legs. I got up and ran out of the back door as fast as I could. "Now!", I yelled making my way outside. Then Alex swung the axe with all his might, missing me by inches. I heard a loud crack than _his_ body hit the floor. "I think we did it.", a sigh of relief left Alex's mouth.

I looked at body on the floor examining it for what it was, wondering if _they_ all looked like that. The axe was still lodged in his head, caught in both eyes. Dark blood surrounded its head then started to spread a little wider. "Did it get you?", Alex looking at me. I was panting, scared but yet I had a slight adrenaline of my second time coming close to death. "No, but it got close." _too close._ "Are we just gonna leave it there? Or are we gonna take it somewhere else?", my grandpa interrupting my thoughts. We glared at the body not really sure what to do with it. "I think we should take it to the back alley." Charles chimed in, "I'll help you boys out." We walked to the lifeless body, uneasy about the situation. I grabbed the legs, My brother and Charles grabbing the left and right side of the body. It was extremely heavy when hoisted it above our hips. _I guess that's why they call it dead weight._ I chose not to say so because now wasn't the time for making a joke. But in this new world what could be considered a _good time_ to crack any type of joke. When we finally made it to the alley we just tossed it aside. Charles spotted another one so we got inside as fast as we could.

When we were in the house none of us knew what to say about what just happened. _Little did we know that, "that" was going to be out new life_. It was the afternoon time and we still haven't eaten yet so I cooked for all of us. Luckily the utilities were still working so it didn't feel so apocalyptic. _Not just yet._ We sat at the table,silence filled the air until Nate decided to say something. "You guys were so cool!" "Yeah, that was pretty awesome what you guys did.", his older brother added. My brother and I both looked at each other and grinned; Charles than giving a nod of agreement. Everyone was in need of a shower, so Charles managed to retrieve their belongings from what was once their car. My brother and I closed all the blinds in the housr so _they_ couldn't see in. While we let the other family use our shower first. _After all, they were our guest._ When I finally got in the shower the a little bit of blood of the _man_ made its way down the drain. When I've gotten out it was close to evening, the sun close to the horizon. My life was changed over the matter of hours, it was a lot to process. I just sat on the couch until my grandpa walked in and sat across me.

"Are you okay?", he asked. "I'm not sure… I mean we did just kill a man. How do you just… like, get over it?", my voice came out more unsure than I meant it to be. It was hard to comprehend what happened that afternoon, it felt _wrong_. "You don't think about, well try not to.", his voice was comforting. "The fact of the matter, it was either him or us." _He was right. In this new world, that's the best way you can put things_. Charles walked in with his family, they always stayed together. Maybe that was a good thing this time around. "So do you have a last name Charles?", my grandpa asked. "I know it sounds funny but It's Xavier.", he chuckled. "Nah, that's pretty cool actually. Your parents sound like they knew what they were doing.", a smile grew as I spoke. My brother than caught my attention from the across the room, signalling to come to him. We both walked out the back door than he said the words I always love to here. "Wanna get blazed?" as he pull out a joint.

We were on the roof halfway done with our token of happiness. "That was crazy. I didn't think that I would ever had to do that.", his voice a bit shifted. I was pretty sure that he was dealing with his own mental uncertainties. The mere thought of taking a life left a shiver down my spine. But he was already dead, _a soulless entity if you will_. It was always a good thing to get blazed with my brother. It was how we bonded, how we put our bullshit aside and just actually enjoy each other's presence. Especially in times where killing someone was as easy as losing someone. By the time we got off the roof and made it back in side, everyone was heading to bed. My grandpa gave the Xavier family blankets and pillows so they could sleep in the living room. We told them goodnight and my brother and I went to our rooms. I layed on my bed staring at the ceiling with my headphones in. _Are we just going to stay here? Is there any place else that is safe enough?_ All these questions lingered in my head but the big question still stayed fresh in mind. _What about my sister?_ All of my relatives were the ones I really worried for. I couldn't do anything thing to see if they were alive to say the least. It angered me to think that at least half of them could be dead. I tried not to think of it too much, so I tuned out my thoughts.

I was the first to wake up the next morning, along with Nate. It felt weird, thinking that everything was going to be _alright_. It felt weird to even consider that everything was going to be… _okay_. We ate cereal together than a while later his brother joined us. I didn't know what to say to them or even know what to talk about? We only known each other for a day and they were years younger than me. _What could I say to two younger guys._ Thankfully, I didn't need to say anything because their dad walked in. "I think we should discuss a few things.", he didn't look to sure of himself when the words left his mouth. I was sure this was important, something we should talk about as a whole. I woke up my brother, _after 100+ tries_ , then called my grandpa to the living room. We all sat on the couches in a circle, kinda like a council. Charles stood at the front beginning his reason for this _meeting_.

He put it like this to say the least; it was safer if we left, safer if we didn't stay to close to the city. We all agreed about his conclusion, _well most of us._ My grandpa was a stubborn man, not so much of a man to " _go with the flow"_. "You guys can go if you want, but we're staying", voice had a firm tone. I didn't think it was a smart idea of us sticking around. Sooner or later we wouldn't be able to handle the number of _zombies_. "This is my house and if it come to it I'll die in _my house_.", my brother and I both knew that we had to leave; it was the sake for our survival. "Where are you heading to?", checking if they were heading remotely close to Mesa. "We have family In Gilbert that we need to check to see if they're okay.", Charles seemed unsure about if they were even alive. "Can we come with you?", my grandpa's eyes darted at me as I finished my sentence. "If you'd lik-", Charles was cut of by Victor. "What? Why are going to leave?", a bit of anger was heard within his voice. "I need to make sure that Mari is okay. She just lives a hour away from Gilbert.", I tried not to argue with him. " _We_ need to make sure.", my brother added. "I'm going if you're going. You think i'm just going to let you go it alone?", he smiled. "Fine, but i'm still staying!", Victor walked out of the living room. Deep down, I figured that he thought that we made the right choice, finding our sister. I just think he was mad that we were possibly leaving him to his death. I had to push those thoughts aside because after all, it was his choice of staying.

We had to find a new car or something that could take the six of us. Then after that we had to go into the city before we went on our journey. "We're going to need food and other things that might be essential to our survival.", it seemed like Charles knew what he was doing. "I know there's a truck about a block away, I hope the keys are nearby. Come with me so we can go check it out.", then made a motion to follow. The three of us stayed quiet through the streets, not causing attention. When we got to the house we had to break the door open with an axe, still having blood on it. As we continued we stayed as quiet as we can be, unsure if anyone was still in the house. "Wait by the door Jacob. Make sure that we're not surrounded.", he softly commanded. They kept going till they disappeared into the other rooms. It took a good ten minutes till I finally heard the jangle of the keys. We all headed out ready to leave this ghost town, _excuse me Zombie town._ Alex and I decided to walk back to our house rather than to drive with Charles. "Do you think we can trust him?", Alex breaking the silence. "He trusts us. It wouldn't hurt if we did... Besides, he is taking us to go check if Mari is okay. Well at least getting us closer to her.", optimism heard in my voice. By the time we got there, the Xavier family had most of their stuff ready so we rushed inside to get our things for the trip. I had a backpack filled with about three pairs of clothes, two portable chargers, hygiene stuff, and a knife with a four inch blade I always kept. My brother packed the same things but had our weed stuff with him. _After all we need some type of uplifter on our journey._

We were all set, ready to go out into the new world known as Hell. Our grandpa was in the living room when my brother and I were heading out. "You can still come with us you know.", Alex trying to persuade him. "There's nothing for me out there. You guys were the only ones that made my life something.", his voice starting to crack, "But you're right. You need to see if your sister and her family is okay. I'll be fine here. I got Lil' Anne with me to keep me safe." motioning to the rifle on his lap. We chuckled than gave him a hug for the last time till we would see him again, _if we saw him again._ "Thank you for taking care of us, thank you for taking us in when we had nowhere to go." Alex cleared his throat to keep his voice from not cracking, "It means a lot even if you don't think of it as so." "We'll make our way back when we find Mari, so make sure the house is clean.", a smile on my face. He laughed then let out a tear from his old wrinkled eyes. I blinked to fight back my tears but sadly a drop escaped. We gave him one more hug than we headed for the door. "Wait!", then my brother and I halted. "You guys might need these for those shit faced monsters out there." then he walked to his room and came back with a Beretta with a whole case of bullets. "Be careful and only use it when you need to.", then placed it into my brother's hand.


	3. On This Narrow Road

After we said our goodbyes and made sure we had everything. Alex and I headed to the truck. We both sat in the bed of the truck because we thought it would be awkward sitting with them in silence. _It was just something normal for us._ When we took off, the silhouette of my grandpa started to fade, and by the time we got to the end of the second block he was nothing more than a blurred speck. _I'm sure he would be okay, he's a grown man that can take care of himself_. The air burned my nostrils. It had stunk of smoke and of something that died. _Oh wait… there has._ We first talked about going to a pawn shop so we can defend ourselves from the zombies. Then, go to a small grocery store to scavenge food for the days being, or till we ran out. After that we should be ready to start making our way towards Gilbert and then Mesa. It all seemed easy enough for us to handle, well at least that's how I wanted it to be. I'm sure we would see, and have to kill, more of those assholes. _I'm still not sure to exactly call them, I mean, they were people at a point in time._

We passed one of my old elementary schools when flashbacks stirred in my head. Times when I laughed at stupid things, made friends, and had embarrassing moments of me being awkward. When we stopped, we were a block away from the pawn shop. We had to make sure we didn't get spotted by _anyone._ All we needed was: A couple of guns, suppressors, ammo, and a better knife for myself. We couldn't get greedy because my brother and I would have to carry it after we left Gilbert. When we got out, Nate and his mom stayed in the truck so they could park it somewhere secluded. The rest of us headed to the pawn shop with a light foot, tip toeing past the buildings. Everything seemed it was ransacked or either set on fire. _I hope there were still things left in the pawn shop_. We spotted a couple of them down the street so we picked up our pace. When we finally got to pawn shop, we made our way inside. There were knocked over things and broken glass everywhere. There were also a smeared blood streaks on the floor, like someone had been dragged. "Okay, get what you need and _only_ what you need.", Charles firmly said. _What was he?_ _Before this._ We rummaged through what was left, and we were quite lucky at best. We managed to get mostly everything we set our minds on except the suppressors.

However, I did find me a leg holster, _something I've always wanted if a zombie apocalypse had ever occurred._ We were about ready to leave to the next stop, so we headed out the back. Jonathan was leading the way but he didn't see that the alarm would trigger when he opened the door. By then it was too late, the alarm blared causing nearby Roamers, _we'll call them Roamers,_ to head in our direction. Panic stuck the moment as the nearby Roamers made their way toward us. I'm pretty sure we could be heard two blocks away from where we were. We had to get ready for the inevitable moment of clearing a path so we can get to the truck. "Here's what we're going to do. Me and Alex are going to lead the way, taking out any Roamers in the way. You two follow and cover our asses, okay?", me once again giving orders. They nodded then readied their guns, Jonathan ready with a knife. _I'm pretty sure his father didn't quite trust him with a firearm, yet._ We made our way to the street, close together so we wouldn't get bit. It's been awhile since I fired a gun so my aiming could be rusty. _So bare with me._ We barely made it to the end of the road but there was a whole group closing in on us.

My brother took the first shots which caught me off guard a little. Two of them went down even though he shot four times, so he stop and then I went. _I've forgotten how loud these things were._ There were four more left so then I took focus on my targets. Everything felt slow motion, then I inhaled and squeezed the trigger, then bam, headshot. _Hah, I still got an aim_. Then I took out another, Charles taking out a couple trailing us. Emily ran over the other two when she rolled up out of nowhere. "Get In!", she shouted through the window, so we did as fast as we could, jumping into the bed of the truck. The sound of the gunshots caused even more to come our way. We kept to our plan to make it to a grocery store before nightfall, so it would be easier. "You're a good shot, who taught you?", Charles asked. My brother thought he was talking to him and told him our sister taught us. _Well that's what happens when you play video games regularly. You develop accuracy._ "When can I learn to shoot?", Jonathan questioned. "You will learn when you're ready. Till then, you just let Alex and Jacob handle it", Charles discarding his request.

When we got to the store most of the food had been taken. All there was left was canned food, which was exactly what we needed. My brother got my attention as he ran and slid on his knees to rummage through food. "Look!", he shouted, but I pressed a finger to my lips to shush him. He stood up with excitement and said in a lower tone, "I got, which is probably the last bag, of Hot Cheetos." I chuckle at his over excitement of the bag of chips but then came to a realization. _What if he's right and those are the last bag. I hope he fucking shares._ We all decided to get food as a whole but I know that I would eventually have to get more because our journey doesn't end in Gilbert. By the time we were done the sun started to set and we left with two crates of food. My bag was more heavier because of the food I stashed, but not too heavy. As we drove past local business leaving town, I couldn't help but feel relieved. Maybe because I survived my first day of my new life or that as far as I know everyone is okay. _But it's not okay and you know it._

We stopped at a truck stop off the freeway for the night. If we hit another city at night time, the chances of our survival go down. We parked in the most darkest part of the area so we wouldn't be visible to the Roamers. "Do you wanna scout the place to see if we're alone?", Charles questioned. I didn't really like the fact of us moving at night because of my eyesight, but we had to do it. "Yeah, me and Alex will go", we left the truck both vigilant, but scared at the same time. We just had our knives so we wouldn't alert anyone of our location. We fanned out to search everywhere but find no one around. We meet up by the restrooms and found a vending machine to the side. We went into the 'Guy's' restroom and come to find something. _A man. No. A Roamer._ He hung himself and is now a Roamer that's jerking, moving around like a piñata. "Should we do something?", I ask. "Why, he's not hurting no one. Besides if he keeps doing that he's gonna take his own head off", Alex answers. "But it's not right for us to leave him."

"Lets just end his suffering.", I walk towards him and see a bite on his arm. I wasn't sure where to stab or cut him to kill him. He tried to grab me but i'm out of his reach. I raise my knife and stab his nose on accident. I pull it out and he's still moving around. _Maybe his eyes?_ I reach back up and aim for his eye this time and stabbed him as hard as I could. He stopped moving. "Alright 'Mr. Pacifist', let's go", Alex motions his head towards the door. When we walk out we see the boys coming our way along with their father trailing behind them. _I'm not sure if they're going to the bathroom but I should say something._ "There's uh… dead person in the bathroom. I don't think you should go in there. Use the girls bathroom instead.", they thought I was joking by the way I worded my sentence and continued to the restroom. My brother chuckled, "Well. You tried." As soon as they walked in, they ran out looking like they pissed themselves. _They didn't_. When we all got back to the truck we checked through the food we got and picked out our dinner for the night. It was pork beans and mixed vegetables which was a pretty good.

As our day was coming to an end I volunteered that me and my brother would keep watch. _Which was really an excuse to get blazed_. It was a warm night, _thank God_ , so we didn't really need a jacket. "Okay, so this would probably last us about four more nights.", Alex examining the bag. We couldn't just sit around and just smoke without a care in the world anymore. We packed a bowl and cleared our heads of today's events. "Out of everything that we have left, I'm thankful for the stars.", I say with sincerity. "Do you think Mari is still… around?", I added. "Hey, she taught us how to shoot and _she's is_ our sister.", Alex chuckled trying to reassure my doubts. _I hope you're right._ Awhile after we had finish he let me go to sleep so I can take second watch. "Wake me up at…", I pulled out my phone to check the time. "2:30.",he nodded and I dozed off. Pictures flew through my head of old memories of all of us being together. Christmas, Birthdays, times of when we just had each other. It scares me to think that this would be for nothing, but I can't think like that.

When I woke up it was still dark out and a blanket was around me. I yawned and stretched my ached body after my uncomfortable 6 hour sleep. "Hey, if you wanna blaze it's right there. If not just wait till I wake up at 7:30.", he yawned before closing his eyes. I gave him the blanket and stood up and stretched again. _It was a little colder than before, I should get my jacket._ It was inside the truck and I didn't want to wake them up. I chose to go to the restroom first before anything else but there was a Roamer by the restrooms. _I should lure it away rather than kill it. Right?_ I look through a trash can and find an empty can. I throw it as far as I can from on the opposite direction of the truck and it stumbles away from my sight. I use the restroom and when I make it back I see someone moving around in the truck. It was the younger boy, Nate, and he was looking for something. I walked to the door and he stops moving, he probably thinks i'm one of those monsters. I open the door and tell him not to worry but then I see he had a can in his hand. "Are you hungry?", I asked. He nods so I grab my bag and tell him to come with me.

Nate seems like he doesn't say much so I try to make a light conversation with him. "So why you still awake?", I questioned as I let down the tailgate. With a quick answer he retorted, "I was hungry." I unzipped my bag, "Oh yeah? Well I got something that we can share." I pull a can of peaches out and we started our day with peaches breakfast. We spent the early morning laughing at old videos on my phone or playing games on it. The sun was rising and I didn't realize the time that passed. Nate fell back asleep so I gave him my jacket to cover with. It was now 6:15 and Emily was the first to wake out of The family. When she got out she looked worried a bit, "Have you seen Nate?" "He's right here. He woke up early this morning and said he was hungry. We shared some peaches and he stayed up with me for a while.", I replied assuring her. She nodded, "If you want to get a little more sleep, go ahead. I'm sure we're fine." I nodded then laid next to my brother. I hardly noticed that I fell back asleep. Then, I was woken up by my Alex about an hours later because it was time to leave the truck stop.

We got everything packed and my brother and I ate a can of mixed fruits before we hit the road. The younger boys wanted to sit in the bed of the truck so we let them. _This could give us a chance to know the parents_. "Thank you guys, for the blanket.", I start off then nudge my brother. "Yeah, thank you it got pretty cold early this morning." " You're welcome, we're in this together. It's only fitting to help each other out." I'm not sure what to say next so I think of another topic. "Well um… what were you guys. Yanno? Before this?", I ask awkwardly. "I was a nurse at a hospital and He was a teacher at the community college in our area.", Then it quickly popped into my brothers head. "So you're Professor X.", he nearly shouted. Charles chuckled, "Well, you got to live up to the name." We continued till we were in sights of a city which looked to be overrun with Roamers. Stopped in the middle of the road, Charles looked contemplated trying to figure out what to do next. "I think it's safer if we went around the city, rather than go through it. But, we don't have that much gas to make the trip.", Charles thinking out loud.

I didn't even take notice that we only had about a fourth of gas left. "Lets just go around till we are close to empty. Then, we'll go into the city for gas", Charles didn't seem to sure of himself. Emily called Jonathan and Nate back inside the truck and we started our new objective. As we continued we couldn't help but notice that various cars were scattered alongside the road. "Why don't we just siphon the gas?", Alex breaking the silence. "Do you have a hose?", I replied. He didn't say anything else, but just continued to look outside. "Okay. We're about to start heading in.", Charles started moving through the outskirts of the town and we made our way in. "This looks way worse then back at home.", Nate added. The roads we filled with wrecked cars, some even rolled on their sides. Other's caught fire, but we didn't let that distract us from our goal. "If you guys see any signs for a gas station. Let me know.", Charles looking around as well. We continued till we seen a sign for a station five miles from us. It seemed that everything was going to work. We continued, but then we came to a stop in the middle of a neighborhood for some reason. "Why are stopped outside this house?" "We're out."


End file.
